Tag Archives | the race for the playoffs

What a crazy, wild, unthinkable ride this season has been. A few months ago, the Chicago Bulls were an awful mess. GM John Paxson was accused of mismanaging the team and at one point was rumored to be stepping down in semi-disgrace. Vinny Del Negro was declared a coaching bust; people were calling for his […]

The Chicago Bulls: .500 (at 40-40) for the first time since mid-November (when they were 5-5). I will now do the dance of joy! Chicago had already clinched a playoff berth when Charlotte suffered a three-point loss to the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Friday Night, but that hardly effected the quality of play. Both teams still wanted […]

After Chicago’s 113-99 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, Tyrus Thomas said: “We’re the most dangerous team going into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference right now. I wouldn’t say anyone is counting us out, but we’re the underdog right now. I think we’re going to come out and shock a lot of people.” Wow. You […]

Life’s funny sometimes. Back in January when the Bulls were getting embarrassed at the United Center by cellar dwellers like the Timberwolves, Thunder and Raptors, I expended a lot of energy trying to find the silver lining around every defeat…even when the only positive was “the earth did not open up and swallow the team.” But […]

Well, now. That was more exciting than it should have been. And by “exciting” I mean “nerve-wracking, aggravating and potentially crippling to Chicago’s late-season playoff run.” They say that any landing you can walk away from is a good one, so I’m going to take today’s 103-94 win over the New Jersey Nets and just […]

I know it’s simply life in the NBA — just ask the Boston Celtics — but this sure is a lousy time for so many Bulls players to be banged up: John Salmons (left groin), Kirk Hinrich (sprained left ankle), Derrick Rose (bruised wrist), Tyrus Thomas (sore shoulder and flu-like symptoms) and Tim Thomas (back spasms) are all […]

In my preview post, I stated that the outlook for this game was grim, mostly because the Bulls are a bad road team (now 12-27) and they most likely would be — and in fact were — without John Salmons, who was averaging 21.3 PPG on 50 percent shooting this month before he strained his […]

Let me be frank: When your opponent shoots over 54 percent and (according to the game recap) sets a new franchise high for points scored, chances are you didn’t win the ballgame. And the Bulls did not, dropping a 134-129 overtime decision to the Raptors in Toronto. It’s called “a hand in the face,” guys. […]

I’ve been making noise about how the Bulls are a vastly improved team at home, but they aren’t so good that they should try to coast through games against inferior opponents. And yet that’s exactly what they did on a rare Saturday afternoon matchup with the Indiana Pacers. Despite falling behind by 14 points in the first […]

In light of the Bulls’ 106-87 win over the Miami Heat — a victory that moved them into seventh place in the East — I think it’s high time for the NBA and everybody who follows it to come to grips with a few suddenly inescapable facts: 1. The Bulls are a pretty good home team: Before […]